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On this episode of The Jeff Crilley Show, Jeff sits down with Chey Smith, custom designer and celebrity stylist behind Styles by Chey, to explore how confidence and clothing intersect. Chey shares his journey from a 15-year career in corporate finance to launching his own luxury men’s fashion brand in 2012, beginning with selling ties from his cubicle....
Show Notes
On this episode of The Jeff Crilley Show, Jeff sits down with Chey Smith, custom designer and celebrity stylist behind Styles by Chey, to explore how confidence and clothing intersect. Chey shares his journey from a 15-year career in corporate finance to launching his own luxury men’s fashion brand in 2012, beginning with selling ties from his cubicle. He recounts the viral prom event that helped catapult his brand into the spotlight and explains how he sources high-end fabrics from around the world to create custom pieces. The conversation dives into the importance of first impressions, dressing for success in a post-COVID casual world, and how to elevate personal style without losing authenticity. It’s a powerful reminder that style isn’t just about what you wear—it’s about how you show up.
Key Topics
- Custom men’s fashion
- Entrepreneurial journey
- Dressing for success
- Luxury fabrics and suiting
- Personal branding and image
- Celebrity styling
- Confidence and first impressions
Episode Timestamps
- 01:20 - When Did Chey Know He Had Style?
- 02:30 - Selling Ties from His Corporate Cubicle
- 04:40 - Taking a Leap of Faith in 2016
- 05:45 - The Viral ‘Dubai in North Philly’ Prom Story
- 08:00 - Luxury Fabrics: From Super 110s to Super 200s
- 09:30 - Why First Impressions Still Matter
- 10:45 - How to Dress Down Without Losing Style
- 11:45 - Who Should Book a Consultation with Styles by Chey?
Creators and Guests
What is The Jeff Crilley Show?
Jeff Crilley is a former news reporter, who spent more than 25 years in newsrooms across the country. He’s an Emmy Award winning journalist, who decided to make the jump from news in 2008, when he founded his own PR Firm, Real News Public Relations.
Today, the firm has more than 100 clients, and Jeff continues to tell the stories of interesting people he meets along the way.
These are those stories.
Coming up next on the Jeff Crilley Show, we're gonna meet the great Chey Smith. He is a celebrity stylist and wardrobe consultant, and my friend, his incredible journey just ahead. Crilley Many are predicting that the worst is yet to come, which is unfortunate, said one person here. Until now, they've enjoyed the reputation of being the nation's icebox. Watched a burglar in his home this morning by webcam. As a journalist of over twenty five years, stories are what make my world turn. Reporting live from The Dallas News from tonight, Jeff Crilley, Fox four news. But in 2008, I took the jump from my familiar life and started a PR firm from my home. We're talking about anyone with a camcorder like the one I'm using becomes a television network. We started slowly growing the company, and we now have over a 100 clients. And we've branched into a world of live digital broadcasting. I now own eight different TV studios and have a huge team, and the stories that I now get to share are sometimes the most important of my life. Life has a funny way of coming around full circle. This is The Jeff Crilley Show. Well, when I was coming of age in the eighties, like, everybody dressed up. It was like Wall Street. Right? You remember Michael Keaton from Family Ties, and he just dressed up. Well, then, you know, we started getting more casual Fridays, became casual Mondays and Tuesdays, and then COVID hit, and then suddenly it's like sweatpants are okay. So somebody who's trying to change that narrative is my next guest. Chey Smith is in the studio. He's a custom designer and celebrity stylist. Thanks for coming on show. Thank you for having me today, Michael. Alright. Let's talk about your style journey. Okay. When did you know you had style? I think from a young kid. I always dress fashionable, growing up from elementary school. No kidding. And that's from casual to dress down to dress up. Yes. And I just I think it's not always about the clothing, but it's about the confidence you walk into as well. Mhmm. Well, I love your your story because you were in corporate America Yes. Also very stylish, and you brought in some ties one day. Yes. So I worked corporate America for about fifteen, sixteen years in finance. And there, you had to dress up all the time. So, you know, a shirt and tie, but because I was a dresser, I'm gonna put a suit on, put a jacket on with it. So I was always well respected dressing up. And people, of course, women, men, would compliment me all the time. So one day I just say, you know what? I'm gonna go to New York and get 20 ties wholesale. And it was around Christmas time. Brought them back to my job, had my own little cubicle, and I set them up real nicely on my cubicle, and I started selling ties. It was Christmas time, so people looking for stocking stuffers. I love that. Okay. So when did it turn into I can make this a living? Well, 2012 is when I started it. So I said, I used the mentality. I I'm from West Philadelphia. Sure. Sure. Single family home, grew up in the streets, and kinda strayed into the street life. So I used that same mentality to say, you know what? I'm gonna flip these ties, flip these ties, got me some cufflinks, got me a little bit of shirts, found a little catalog book with self suits I love. Nice. And from there, I said, you know what? I think I can do something with this. Wow. Well, you're very successful. We're gonna pull up your website. And as we scroll down the website, let's talk about some of the images that we're seeing. You're trying to make a statement on the homepage, aren't you? Yes, sir. I named it Styles by Chey. In the beginning, it was unusual styles. Yeah. And why I say unusual styles is because I'm unusual. Right? And just because it's my style, it may not be your style. You may be the conservative type where you say, I'm not gonna do red or do orange. Right. Most people when I walk in the room, they're like, man, I would have never did that but that looks good. Mhmm. And you never wanna change anybody's style. Right. You wanna keep them what they like but just add a little jazz to it. I like that. Tell me one of your favorite success stories. My favorite one would be which kinda got me a little bit of stardom. That was in 2017. So in 2016, I opened up my first shop in the South Jersey area right across the bridge from Philadelphia. Mhmm. And I took a step of faith and left my job, you know, full time and said, you know, I'm gonna step out in faith and do this. And I did that. And in 2017, I started doing a lot of proms. And I met, this mom that actually contacted me a year before and said, hey. I want you to do my son's prom, and I'm gonna contact you next year. I said, 2017, she contacted me, and she says, I have this great idea. It's gonna be big. I'm gonna bring Dubai to North Philly. Wow. And if you know Philadelphia, North Philly is a hard Yeah. You know, part of the city. Yeah. But she said, I'm gonna bring Dubai to North Philly. She was sick at the time and she really wanted to take her son to Dubai, but she couldn't because she was sick. So she said, I'm gonna bring it here. Wow. And she actually flew in three tons of sand, a camel, animals, a mural to make it look like Dubai. No camel. I mean, in that day I went to the prom, we actually did three suits, custom suits we made for him. He had three different luxury cars Wow. And three different dates. Wow. And it act it went so viral, it actually hit Dubai. That's how viral it was. Is that right? Yes, That's incredible. And is that when you knew this is my calling? Yeah. That's when I knew. It was like, oh, this is about to be big. Yeah. And from there, it just took off. Alright. We've got your Facebook photo page pulled up. We're gonna scroll down because they're just incredible images. You're very aware of what you're posting and I I think you lead a very glamorous life. Well, thank you first. But again, I think with my style, I'm one that likes to command the room. Yeah. So when I walk in the room, again, I want all heads turning. It's like all eyes on me. Like when you wore that this morning? I bet you got stopped five times. Who are you? I got a couple of compliments. That's awesome. Okay. You brought some swatches with you. Yes. Go ahead and hold them up and and tell us what we're looking at. So this here is what we call luxury fabric. So you start off with it depends on the client. Mhmm. So you have your basic level. Mhmm. You also have comfort, luxury, which is right in the middle. Then you go to platinum presidential. Yeah. And I tell most people that you starting off, depending on your budget, you should start right in that middle range because, okay, it's custom, but that basic is just gonna be the very least fabric. Right. It's still gonna be a good cut, you know, a okay quality. But if you really want a nice quality, you should start in the middle Mhmm. You know, which is your luxury. So that is usually like your super $1.40, one fifty. Yeah. You know, of course, you start at super one tens, one twenties, that's your basic, and you can go all the way to super 200, which is your presidential. Well, let's talk about the importance of dressing for success because if we are in this kind of sweatpants world, you showing up ready for business, suited up, makes an impression, doesn't it? Yes, sir. I think just like anything, the first impression is the best impression. Right? Meeting you for the first time Thank you. I wasn't all the way dressed. I was kinda dressed down, actually, in a sweatsuit, but I think it was my coat and my bag. So sometimes it's just the accessories Yes. That you may wear may draw somebody to you. Because that first thing you say is, man, I love your bag. Mhmm. Hey, that's a nice coat. Well, do you feel like like dressing for success is back in style? Are we starting to see kind of a move away from comfortable casual? I think you got a mixture of both. Mhmm. And then I think it depends on the person and also the environment. So it's sometimes it calls for a dress down. But you can still make a dress down still look dressed up. Yeah. Like for instance, I could take this same suit that I have on. And today, have a shirt and tie, and I have some nice pair of dress shoes. But if I wanna make it a little bit casual, but still dressy, I would take this off and put a v neck t shirt on and then throw a nice pair of white clean sneakers on. Oh, that's cool. No sock. Yeah. And now, I'm casual with the I like that. This man's brilliant. We have about a minute left, so why don't you talk to the person who needs to be your customer? Well, first, I would like to say if you're looking to upgrade your wardrobe or upgrade your style, the first thing that I want you to do is go to my website. Go to stylesbyshydesigns.com, and you can book a consultation with me. Con consultations, what we do is just kinda find out what's your style. Again, I don't believe that you should change anyone's style. You want them to be themselves. But at the same time, a wardrobe stylist or image consultant is someone that will help you give a little bit of flair to your style. Because sometimes, you know, we just see an outfit, you see it on a mannequin, you get that because you like it and you wear it the same way. But as an image consultant or wardrobe stylist, I'm gonna help you change that and say, hey, take that sweater and put a different pair of pants on with it. Or take that sweater and put a different pair of jeans with it. Mhmm. So if you're looking to be styled, go to Styles by Shy. You can also follow me on my Instagram, Styles by Shy. Facebook, Styles by Shy. And also TikTok styles by shy. Outstanding. You've been an amazing Thank you, Jeff. We're gonna end with the website, which again is stylesbyshydesigns.com. The great, Shy Smith. Thanks for coming on the show. Thank you for having me. You bet. That's it for now. We'll see you next time.